FinWell
The Real Accounts research project, part of FinWell programme of work, seeks to better understand changes in people’s financial lives, health and wellbeing induced by volatile household finances and insecurity in vulnerable members of society during the cost-of-living crisis.
Launching in spring 2023, the Real Accounts project is being led by Nest Insight in collaboration with Glasgow Caledonian University and the Centre for Personal Financial Wellbeing at Aston University, with support from the Aviva Foundation.
At the moment, too little is known about how low- to moderate-income households across the country manage their money or the strategies they use to deal with changes to their income, the rising cost of living, and unexpected expenses that come up in day-to-day life. We’ll combine first-hand stories with real-time transaction information to build a long-term picture of households’ experiences, decision making and diverse financial approaches
The Real Accounts project is the fourth project in the FinWell programme of work. This programme aims at better understanding the link between income and health and wellbeing, including the mediating mechanisms that might facilitate this association. The first project, FinWell-Glasgow, started in 2014 and was a 2-year project funded by the Chief Scientist Office. The second project FinWell-London (2019-2020) was funded by Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity. The third FinWell-Covid project (2021-2022) was funded by ESRC (grant number ES/V01532X/1). All these FinWell projects took a mixed-method approach using financial diaries, in-depth interviews, and Q methodology.
Publications
- Ibrahim, F., McHugh, N., Biosca, O., Baker, R., Laxton, T., & Donaldson, C. (2021) Microcredit as a public health initiative? Exploring mechanisms and pathways to health and wellbeing. Social Science & Medicine, 270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113633
- Biosca, O., McHugh, N., Ibrahim, F., Baker, R., Laxton, T., & Donaldson, C. (2020). Walking a Tightrope: Using Financial Diaries to Investigate Day-to-Day Financial Decisions and the Social Safety Net of the Financially Excluded. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 689(1), 46–64. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220921154
- McHugh N, Baker R, Biosca O, Ibrahim F, & Donaldson C (2019). Who knows best? A Q methodology study to explore perspectives of professional stakeholders and community participants on health in low-income communities BMC Health Services Research 19, 35 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-3884-9
- McHugh N, Biosca O, Donaldson C. (2017). From wealth to health: evaluating microfinance as a complex intervention. Evaluation; 23(2):209-225 https://doi.org/10.1177/1356389017697622
- FinWell London Financial Diaries website
- Biosca, O. et al (2020). Managing finances and multiple long-term conditions: eliciting the perspectives of individuals living on low incomes. Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health, Glasgow Caledonian University.
Project Lead at GCU: Professor Olga Biosca
Current project team at GCU: Professor Cam Donaldson, Dr Neil McHugh, Dr Nina Teasdale, Professor Patrick Ring, Professor Sara Cantillon, Elena Magli.